Toronto's second-half edge

The schedule is going to get a lot easier for the streaking Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are suddenly baseball's darlings again. Winners of 11 straight and 14 of their past 16, Toronto has vaulted from 21st place in the ESPN MLB Power Rankings last week all the way up to 12th this week. The jump ended an eight-week run in the bottom 10. But while the Blue Jays have had a tough road in the first half, things should get brighter after the All-Star break.

Only two of the five teams in the American League East have more home games than road games following the All-Star break -- the Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox. With 35 games on their home slate, the Blue Jays have one more game after the break in their building than do the Red Sox. The Baltimore Orioles, with a 32-34 split, are fairly close as well. But the Yankees and Rays will have a tough road -- the Yankees have seven more road games than they do home games, and for the Rays that number is 10. Boston and Toronto's edge will hold in September as well.

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